Seated colon figure ·  D. R. Congo, Bembe · ID: 3032288

Description

light brown wood, blackened in parts, scarification marks on the body, the eyes inset with white glass beads, crypto fetish, min. dam., minor missing parts, cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
usually there are European pieces of dress and indifferent facial traits typical for the prevailing local style. A figure resembling a European because it is equipped with a sun helmet, a uniform, a tie, a wrist watch or similar items may just as well represent an African. Africans dressed in European style can be shown as early as the time of Louis XIV when the ambassador of the King of Ardra was received in the Tuileries.

Comparing literature

Kecskési, Maria, Kunst aus Afrika, München, London, New York 1999, ill. 143